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Write: Say Yes

It all starts there, right? New beginnings, new experiences, new jobs, new positions, new friends, new foods…you have to say “yes” first before the new can begin.

Yes is scary, though. By saying yes, you’re inviting uncertainty to take root in your world. Of course some things are less uncertain that others; if you say “yes” to a soda, you’ll probably get exactly what you expect.

But the bigger things, the things that aren’t regulated by some outside force, the life things, those things are scary, man.

I listen to this talk radio station and yesterday my favorite host was interviewing Tito of Tito’s Handmade Vodka. They were talking about Tito’s story, how he decided to drop everything make vodka his life, how he maxed out 16 credit cards, spent his entire savings, and did this crazy thing. He said that what looks like success is actually a string of failures that propelled him on to the next thing. He said that we shouldn’t focus on making money, we should focus on making a life.

He kept saying yes, and change kept happening to him. Conversely, if he hadn’t said yes, if he hadn’t kept moving, what would have happened?

The catalyst for more is accepting more. There’s a common cliche that says, “it all works out in the end, and if it doesn’t, it isn’t the end,” and I think, while super cheesy, it’s really important. What is the end, anyway? I’m of the mind that it has to work out, because I don’t know what the alternative is, or if there is one. Maybe it works out because our perspective changes. Maybe it works out because we didn’t even know to wish for something so great. Maybe it works out because… it does.

All of this isn’t meant to be some sappy self-help diatribe about visualizing success and taking it. I’m not qualified to tell you what to do about anything, all I can do is write some sentences about what’s on my mind lately, and tell you that if you aren’t roasting chicken at home at least once a week, I think you’re doing it wrong.

I will tell you that I’m going to keep saying yes and see where it takes me. There’s a lot of freedom knowing that it’s all part of the story–it’s all just another thing taking you on to the next thing. It’s a wave that crashes, reaching for the shore, then contracts back into the next wave. It is life, and it’s working out.